TRIB TALK

Wednesday

"People think the school district in the city of Chicago is a mess, but they need to look closer at what's going on since Chris Belcher has become our superintendent. He has pushed for the certification of the teachers' union into our district, thinking that's a good thing. He has not been opposed to it at any level and in fact has helped implement the direction of a teachers' union in the city of Columbia. If you think that's such a good idea, look in the city of Chicago, where the teachers are offered a 15 percent raise when they're making $76,000 a year on average, and they turned it down."

"Libya doesn't want us over there? That's fine — starve 'em out. Quit sending them food, any humanitarian aid, quit sending them arms … starve the suckers out. Let 'em rot in hell. They don't do a damn thing for us like any of the rest of the foreign countries. The Bible says take care of your own first, and it's apparent the U.S. government can't figure that out."

"I know this doesn't pertain to the goings-on in Columbia, but there's no telling the way this stupid society of ours is that New York City's going to ban extra-large soft drinks. What an absolute farce that is. You can't go to McDonald's and get a large soft drink, but you could go to one of the 5,000 or 6,000 bars in New York City and drink? Come on; this society's living by a double standard."

"It makes me absolutely furious that the United States government has sent so much money and aid over to these Muslim countries — Egypt, Morocco, Libya. We've saved Libya's butt several times, and now these people are condemning us? Burning our flag? It makes me absolutely sick to my stomach, and I want to puke."

"Let me see if I get this right: Within a month, maybe three weeks, gas jumped about 30 cents, and then it went down to $3.63, and now it's $3.79. Talk about price-gouging. I think we need an intervention from the government or somebody. Normally, I would not like the government in my business, but when I have to commute back and forth more than 20 miles, I think we need help."

"I was just wondering if it bothers anyone else as it bothers me that Congress has done nothing to help the economy or jobs, yet they've been on vacation at least two-thirds of this year. They just got back from a five-week vacation, and now they're going into fall recess. Why do we keep voting these people in?"

"Let's look at what's going on over in the Middle East. It's simple sociology. A mob or a riot is instigated by one person or a nucleus. Most of the people involved would not have ever done those sort of things. So, you have to cut the head off the snake to kill the body, and we don't want to do that. We know who the head of the snake is, but we apologize. We say, 'We're sorry we made you mad enough to kill our people.' The fact is there is a core group of people who know how to get these people wound up, and they're easily wound up anyway."

"In light of the recent events in the Middle East, that film — and I haven't seen it, but I saw the interviews with the people who were so proud of it — should fall under the Hate Crimes Act. And another thing: As much as we do not want censorship and we don't want to lose our right to free speech, talk radio is going to need to start policing itself. And if the hate-mongers who speak out against the Latin people, against black people, against the Muslims — the kind of hate that's being preached over our radio stations is appalling — can't police themselves, the FCC needs to step in and clamp down on these commentators who are just spewing filth and hatred."

"I am in my 60s, and until recently I have never tried to contact an elected official. However, on July 24, I called my councilperson, leaving my name and phone number, politely asking for a return call. No response! On Aug. 8, I repeated my efforts. Again, no response! What do I do now? Just not vote for that person next time?"

"Here we go again with government and NASA wasting taxpayers' money. In Columbia we're paying more than $3.70 for a gallon of gasoline. But the government and NASA have it in their head to spend millions and millions of dollars on jet fuel to take the space shuttle from Florida to California piggy-back on another jet. What a waste of money. Why can't they leave the shuttle in Florida where it was and save the gas money? If people want to go visit the shuttle, let 'em go to Florida instead of California."

"Lawn care companies typically want to mow your dang grass too short and too often. As a person who used to grow more than 900 acres of grass per year and never had any of it die, the length of the grass above the soil in these short lawns helps determine the depth of the roots, and if you don't have a long-established lawn where the roots don't go down that far, it'd be wise not to mow your grass. I didn't water my grass at all this summer, and I didn't lose one blade of it after this drought. It's like hair on a dog's back."

"Our city fathers have done it to us again. They're shoving down our throats something that two-thirds or better of the city of Columbia do not want, and that's these trash carts. I know one thing: Next election, my ward man, I'm going to vote against him."

"I just got back from Portland, Ore., and I did a lot of walking around town. I was amazed because every time there was a crosswalk, the drivers stopped at the crosswalk. It must have happened about a hundred times, and only one driver went through the crosswalk. I asked my kids why they were so fabulous about stopping for pedestrians. They said, 'Mom, there's a $200 fine for people who drive past the crosswalk when somebody is waiting to cross.' In Columbia, especially on Broadway and Hitt Street, I have tried to cross that street a hundred times, and every car that passes refuses to stop for the pedestrian. It's scary, and, frankly, I think if we had a $200 fine and backed it up and actually issued tickets, we would have a lot more cars that were particularly careful when pedestrians were trying to cross on crosswalks."

"It's Tuesday, and I find Darkow's cartoon for today absolutely disgusting. I believe it's time the Tribune seriously thought about getting a new cartoonist."

"What idiot put in the sidewalk in front of the St. Andrew's Lutheran Church on West Boulevard? They put the sidewalk around two telephone poles, and there is no way a wheelchair can go by those poles and not fall off the edge of that sidewalk."

"I used to think Darkow was a decent editorial cartoonist, but you've moved into more and more denigrating political cartoons that just turn me off. The one today of Romney includes a total misrepresentation of what he spoke in the hidden camera the other day. And he didn't need to add his attempt at profanity at the end. His left-leaning cartoons are really inappropriate. He should look at both sides or be neutral."

"A comment on the Tuesday editorial on the fairgrounds saying TAG is doing a very good job: I believe it's about time the county commissioner sold the fairgrounds and get out from under it. They don't need to be in competition with anybody around the county. So sell it to TAG, and let them make a job with it or whatever they need to do, and the county would be out from under it, and they won't have to make no contracts."

"What kind of country would we have if we had a country that believed half of our people are nothing? If we were so self-righteous that we didn't realize our drones are making the rest of the world mad, and if we were so self-righteous we believe incarcerating people over marijuana possession like a Salem witch hunt out of the early 1800s is something America can be proud of. What in the hell do our big shots have to count on when it comes down to volunteering our children to go fight their stinking wars for them?"

"I was calling in regard to 'Council tells staff to rethink plans for roll cart tubs.' I think that is a great idea. I've seen those roll carts out in Denver. In the neighborhood I visit, they sit outside at the back of the garages because they don't want the stinky trashcans inside the garage after they're emptied. And they're just lined up along the streets in the back. Some have alleys, and some have houses that face the backs of the houses."

"I just got back from visiting a retirement neighborhood in Texas, and they have had city-provided roller trash cans for years. When I asked the retired man I was staying with if he liked the roller trash cans, he looked at me like I was crazy and asked, 'Why would I not like them?' He was amazed people in Columbia were against them. He has used city-provided roller trash cans for years and has never heard complaints from friends either. His garage is very tidy, and there aren't all the smelly trash bags in there. I wonder if the people in Columbia who are against roller trash cans are afraid to try something new."

"A Trib Talk contributor recently praised Tina Dupuy. I agree, she is excellent, perhaps the best columnist the Tribune carries. And yes, Mona Charen is an idiot. But the worst of all is Walter Williams. Like Paul Ryan, he thrilled to the pernicious fantasies of Russian atheist Ayn Rand as a boy and never outgrew the romance of cutthroat capitalism."

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